I barely had time to put more clothes on and shove the Queen’s cloak into Hunter’s closet before there was a loud bang on the door. The guys were waiting for me in the living room and I strode in, wondering who was knocking.

Not waiting for anyone to answer, Sophia came striding in. “Where the hell have you guys been? You were supposed to meet me an hour ago.”

An older gentleman followed her into the apartment and holy wow! Older dude was hot.

“Edward!” The guys almost exclaimed his name all at once and each took their turn giving him a big bear hug.

Edward was at least in his sixties but he still had a full head of brown hair tied at a loose bun in the back. He had a strong jaw that showed through a tight brown beard and dark, wrinkled eyes that turned to look right into me.

I found myself fumbling, self-conscious by his evaluation of me. I was standing next to Christian, who reached over and slowly closed my mouth. Embarrassed, I took a step behind Christian and clung to his arm. Edward came towards me, his arms open wide. “You must be Elizabeth. I’ve heard so much about you from your father.”

Then he enveloped me in a hug, which gave me a warm, glowy sensation. “I wish I could say the same about you.”

He gripped my shoulders to stare into my eyes. “Of course. Your father was a man of principle, even so much that it was a fault. I always felt that he should’ve told you about us, but he refused to go back on his word.”

I put my hand over his. “Well, I’m glad to finally meet you.”

He smiled and then his eyes drifted to my finger, right to the ring the Queen had given me. His eyes tightened and we shared a knowing look, as I saw the same exact ring my father wore on his middle finger. Then he nodded just slightly. “You, too.”

“If the reunion is over, can we please talk about why this man is tied to a chair in your kitchen?” Sophia tapped her shoe against the carpet.

Whoever had tied up Smelly Fish had done a great job; he could barely move an inch and had a rag in his mouth to keep him from speaking. He didn’t look like he was going to speak any time soon anyway, his eyes were closed and he had a rebellious look on his face. Although with Avery here, he might need to say a word.

Hunter stepped forward. “This man tried to kill Elizabeth; he called her a terrorist. Did you have anything to do with this?”

Edward swiveled around to look at Sophia, a look of disappointment on his face. “Sophia, what have you done?”

Sophia’s mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t dare try to kill their precious little princess.” She said the last word with such rancor, such hatred, it made me shiver. Then her lips twisted up in a snide little smile even though Hunter was in her face now.

“If I find out that you tried to have her killed, I won’t hesitate to slice that slimy little snicker off your face.”

She returned his look with a bored one. “Oh, Hunter. I’m touched that you think me so clever. I almost wish I’d thought of it myself.”

Edward put his arm on Hunter’s shoulder but moved to face her. “Sophia Sorensen. You and I will discuss your manners later. If your father were here—”

Her head snapped to him. “But he’s not, is he? He’s dead.”

Edward swallowed hard and a guilty look passed over his face. “Regardless, if you’ve stooped so low, I swear by the Authority and the Queen herself, you will pay for this.”

Her face convoluted into a mask of rage and she shot me a look of hatred. “Don’t worry, Edward. I didn’t do this. I don’t know what’s so special about this stupid wolf anyway.” She stomped her foot, frowning. “Everyone always defends her. You just met her and you’re already taking her side.”

Edward folded his hands over his chest and raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “First of all, I know you. Second of all, she’s Robert’s daughter and you, of all people, should respect that.”

She glanced at me and I almost swore her eyes had softened but it must’ve been a trick of the light. That or she had dust in them cuz there’s no way she was looking at me kindly. Instead, she opened her mouth but no words came out. She shut it angrily and looked away quickly.

My mouth dropped open for the second time since I’d met Edward. How on earth did Edward render Sophia speechless and what in this world did my dad do for all these people?

“What the hell? What did my dad do?” I couldn’t take it any longer.

Edward turned to me. “It’s a long story. One I’ll tell you one day.” Then his eyes clouded over with concern. “Are you okay?”

Suddenly, I remembered Avery and turned towards him. “Oh hell, Avery. I didn’t even check if you were okay. I was so pissed off at that jogger.” I shot the guy tied up an evil look. “Are you okay?”

Avery rubbed his shoulder. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just a little sore is all.”

Christian punched Avery’s shoulder. “Course he’s okay. He’s got shifter magic running through his veins.”

Avery winced and Sophia cried out. “Damnit.”

I turned towards her with a questioning look. She didn’t look at me.

“You took a bullet for her? In your shoulder?”

He stared her down. “Yes.”

“I’ve got an assignment for you. That’s why I told you to meet with me.”

Avery swallowed hard and nodded. “I can still work, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

Sophia frowned. “I’m not taking any risks. I’ll push it off. But take care of your arm.”

I wanted to ask him what he did for her, but I held my tongue.

Sophia nodded, then turned to Hunter. “Hunter, I’d like to speak to you.”

He shrugged. “Go ahead.”

“In private.”

“Sorry Sophia, I no longer accept private conversations with you. Remember? In fact, next time I’d appreciate it if you would wait for someone to answer the door before you come in.”

Her face grew red, though her eyes shot hate. “Fine. We’ll have it out in the open. There’s a new test from the DNI Neuromuscular clinic; they’ve requested permission to begin testing electromyography and nerve conduction to improve muscular diseases such as your sister’s on humans. They’ve been very successful in both mice and chimpanzees.”

Hunter’s eyes lit up.

“It could even save her life.”

Hunter rushed forward. “Who is this? Where are they?”

She raised her eyebrow. “I will sign off on this, and request that your sister be in on the trial.”

He gripped her arm. “And what do you want in return?”

She glanced at me, and an uneasiness began to grow in my stomach. I wasn’t going to like what she was going to say next.

“You must agree to be my mate.”

* * *

Hunter sucked in a breath. I imagined myself pulling on that stupid ponytail of hers and my hand itched to actually do it. “What the hell?”

She glanced at me again and her lips curled upwards.

“And you’ll participate in an official binding ceremony.”

“What’s that?” Again, I knew I would hate the answer.

Hunter looked at me, pain in his eyes. “If I participate in a binding ceremony with her, the magic of the ceremony is all encompassing. I would genuinely become attached to her and,” he swallowed hard, “forget my love for anyone else.”

“You bitch.” I slammed my fist into her face. She fell backwards, stumbling. Then she caught herself and lunged at me. Edward caught her and forced her back. She held her nose, which was bleeding.

Christian high-fived me. “Guess Hunter’s lessons did you good.”

I grinned, shaking my hand. I’d never punched anyone without gloves on. “Thanks.”

Sophia fumed but jerked herself out of Edwards grip. “If you ever hit me again, I won’t let anyone hold me back.”

“Whoops. I’m sorry. My hand slips up like that when someone is being a manipulative bitch.”

Fuming, she looked at Hunter. “If you don’t agree to this, I won’t sign off on the experiment and it will take another five years before they can even apply again. Who knows what will happen to your sister by then.”

“You whore!” Hunter rushed towards her with fire in his eyes and this time it was Edward holding Hunter back. I had to give it to him, for an old dude, Edward was pretty spry.

I looked at Easton. “What’s wrong with Riley?”

“She has a muscular disease; she can’t shift. And it could… it could kill her. There’s no cure.” He looked at me. “Not yet, anyway.”

Oh my freaking hell. What a whorish bitch. “You would put Riley’s life on the line just to get your way? What about the pure blood and how this team needs to have pups and all that? Was all that just a lie to get all the guys to sleep with you?”

She looked at me, a snide look on her face, even though blood still leaked from her nose. “At this point I don’t care anymore. I need to marry to move up in the Authority and Hunter is the perfect arm candy. With his wealth and status, he would make the perfect husband. Besides…” she looked at Hunter, “…you’ve tried long enough, don’t you think? Did you ever stop to consider that you’re shooting blanks?”

The room erupted in chaos, with everyone either trying to punch the lights out of Sophia, or trying to stop us from punching her. Edward was in the middle of it all, with Easton trying to help him, yelling that it wouldn’t do any good to kill her. Sophia was growling and scales were beginning to flake off of her skin as she struggled to contain her dragon. My wolf was ready to pound her and I couldn’t help the fur erupting from my knuckles.

Then Riley’s voice interrupted the scene, screaming, “Stop it!”

We all froze; we hadn’t realized that Riley was even home.

She was standing on top of the kitchen table and she jumped off it. Then she marched up to Sophia, who cowered for a second.

“I will not be used to manipulate my brother again, after what you did to him the last time.”

“Riley.” Hunter stepped towards her but she held her hand out to stop him.

“Yeah, I know what you did. You used Hunter’s desire to get me into DNI, to manipulate him into signing on for your freaky little team.” She looked at Hunter, her eyes glaring. “And you. You didn’t trust me to get into that school on my own.”

He frowned. “It’s my job to take care of you and protect you. I won’t apologize or feel bad for that.”

She closed her eyes. “Stop trying to make up for what happened with mom and dad. It wasn’t your fault.”

Suddenly the whole room was silent and I felt this crushing weight against my chest, even though I had no idea what was going on.

Riley turned back to Sophia. “If I ever catch you trying to manipulate my brother ever again, I will dig up so much information on you and release it to the public, you’ll never be able to show your face in Aerwyna again.”

Sophia fumed, her eyes a dark orange. But she didn’t say anything; she probably knew that Riley could destroy her.

Riley turned to her brother. “And if I find out that you bound yourself to her to help me, I’ll never speak to you again.” Then she stormed off towards her room. “And Sophia, take that ugly guy with you. I don’t want him in my house!”

Gah! I’d forgotten that the guy who tried to kill me was tied up in Hunter’s kitchen. Had my meeting with the Queen only happened an hour ago?

“Hey, I wasn’t done with him.” Avery tried to persuade Riley to leave him.

She shook her head. “Get him out. No more of that shit here.”

After Riley slammed the door to her room, the room was quiet for a moment, then Sophia yelled at Edward. “Tell your soldiers outside the door to bring him to the interview room.”

There were guards outside the door?

She looked at Hunter. “I’ll give you three days to get ready and get your sister under control.” Then she stomped towards the front door and slammed it behind her.

Ugh, what an assuming whore stamp. When was she going to take the hint that Hunter was mine? I went to Hunter’s room and yelled out, frustrated. “I wanna slam a door too!”

Then I slammed his door shut and the guys burst out into laughter.

* * *

I returned back to the kitchen and shivered; it was freezing. Hunter had opened the windows to get rid of the rank that was known as Smelly Fish. Everyone was sitting around the table; I’d taken a moment to calm down and think about the craziness that had happened in the day since we’d been here. Riley’s music blasted through her closed door, making it vibrate.

Edward sat at the head of the table and I decided to sit as far away from him as possible. He made me nervous for some reason and it had nothing to do with the fact that he was an older hot dude. Yep, nothing to do with that, move along now.

Christian looked up at me, seeing I was uncertain where to sit and held his hand out. “Come here, Pinky.”

I sat in his lap and he wrapped his arms around me. His warm body enveloped mine protectively and I pulled my fingers into his.

“So,” Edward looked at me. “I already know what happened in Tennessee and Hawaii.” He nodded at Easton. “And now, I know about what happened this morning when someone tried to shoot you.” He leaned forward and I became self-conscious of his stare. He was sizing me up and I felt the need to please him. “Now, tell me why you have on the Queen’s ring.”

All eyes turned to me, except for Avery’s who leaned his head back against the chair and closed his eyes. Easton was curious. Hunter looked ready to defend anything that came out of my mouth.

I curled into Christian, whose arms around me pulsed a soft, calming sensation and told them about my meeting with the Queen.

When I was done, Hunter stood up and began to pace the room. “What does she mean by a sacrifice? You shouldn’t put yourself in danger.”

Easton frowned. “We have to help her.”

Hunter stilled to stare at him. “Of course we do. That doesn’t mean Elizabeth has to do it.”

“You’re not leaving me out of this. The Queen approached me, not any of you.”

Hunter looked at Edward. “Do you think that was a coincidence?”

I sat up, offended. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I spoke in a soft whispery voice. “Oh, poor Elizabeth, she’s a weak helpless woman. She couldn’t possibly save the Queen, especially if she’s on her period.”

Christian burst out into laughter; his shoulders shook against me and I couldn’t stop the side of my lip twisting up, even though I was mad at Hunter.

Hunter growled. “That’s not what I meant.”

“What did you mean then?”

Easton burst in, grinning at Hunter. “Yeah. What did you mean, Hunter?” It was almost like he was happy I was mad at Hunter.

Hunter leaned into the chair across from me, and when he spoke, his voice was low. He was angry, too. “My mother was one of the strongest, bravest persons I ever met. You should know that ‘helpless’ is not a word I would use to describe you.” Hunter got up and began to walk.

I leaned forward, and Christian put his hands on my hips, stroking them, trying to calm me.

“Then please, explain to me why you think it was a coincidence that the Queen wanted to meet with me?”

Edward interrupted. “Hunter, please sit down, your pacing isn’t helping.” He looked at me. “Hunter has never considered women weak. I’m sure he has an explanation.” He leaned back into his chair and I tried not to stare at his chest muscles straining his shirt. “Right, Hunter?”

Hunter took in a deep breath and began to speak, but at a noise from Edward, he pulled the chair out and sat back down. His shoulders slouched and he gave me a defeated look.

“Look, I just meant that our team has been called in several times to defend the Queen from spies. So I would only expect that if she were in danger, she would call us in.” He took in a deep breath. “Besides, this is our problem and we don’t need to drag you into it.”

Then his eyes met mine; they were probing and earnest. “Especially if it puts you in any danger.”

His defeatist attitude deflated all my righteous indignation and I put my hands on the table towards him. “If this is your problem, then it’s my problem. I’m a part of your world now.”

He frowned. “Of course it is, but—”

“Then just accept it.” I was getting angry again.

He bit off his response and stood up. Then he leaned across the table to pull my chin up to force me to look into his eyes. “Elizabeth, you are strong and capable. I was taught to protect and cherish the women I love. I couldn’t do that for my mother, but I’ve been trying to make up for that to Riley ever since. And I will continue to do that for you. Regardless of how you feel about it. I’m sorry, I can’t help it.”

I was silent, understanding that this was significant, that whatever had happened to his mom was probably horrible and that he blamed himself. His words also made me feel warm and fuzzy inside; he’d just told me he loved me. Though I wasn’t sure he knew it.

When I didn’t answer, Easton grew impatient. “Okay, look. What are we going to do about it? I’m responsible for the book, I’ll work on translating the spell. It might take me a couple of days but that will be my number one priority.”

Edward nodded. “Yes, that is the best.”

I leaned back into Christian and he ran his fingers through my hair, soothing me.

“So, what are we going to do about Sophia and Riley?”

Hunter looked like he was going to squeeze the edge of the table to bits. Easton jumped in before Hunter could say anything. “You can’t bind yourself to her. You would hate that.”

“It’s not like I want to! But what if this gives Riley a chance? It could save her life.” He wouldn’t look at me.

Christian leaned forward, pressing his chest against my back. “We can find another way to do it.”

“We’ve tried. I’ve tried. Believe me.” He looked at Easton, and the pain in his eyes was evident. “We even tried magic. Nothing’s worked.”

I frowned and took in a deep breath. It must be incredibly frustrating for Hunter, who has the ability to heal others, to not be able to heal his own blood.

Edward spoke up. “Hunter, even if you do this and Riley gets in, that doesn’t guarantee results. This is just a trial. It could get no substantive results. I do not think the risk is worth it. Plus, you’d be double miserable because even though you would love Sophia at that point, she could never make you happy. She doesn’t have it in her to put someone else’s needs before her own. You’d also have the knowledge that you’d had feelings for another woman and that you left her.”

I suddenly felt very awkward and nervous at the same time. Would he really do it? How the hell could I deal without him in my life?

Edward continued. “Plus, Riley would never speak to you again. She would be so upset.”

I could hear Riley singing to the music in her room and it made me smile. She actually had a good voice.

Hunter got up and began pacing again and Christian tried to calm him. “Hunter, we haven’t exhausted all the options. And, Elizabeth, I hope you don’t mind me saying so, but we haven’t even begun to explore the power she has with her mother’s necklace. Plus, maybe Edward can approach someone within the Queen’s inner circle. Maybe there’s something that can help Riley.”

I held my hand to my necklace. “If there’s any possibility that the necklace will help her, then I am down for it.”

Hunter looked at Edward. He still hadn’t looked at me and it was making me nervous.

“What if…” his face was pale and he wiped his hands across the table. “What if we could kill two birds with one stone. I could be the sacrifice to save the book.” He looked at me and my heart pounded in my chest. No. No. He wasn’t going to say it. And then he did. “If you give me up, and I go to Sophia, then that could be the sacrifice the magic needs and we can help Riley.”

I stood up, slamming my hands on the table. “No way. Hell to the no. I can’t do it.”

I tried to, just for one second, imagine what my life would be like without Hunter. Pain came rushing in and my chest tightened. I couldn’t breathe. I looked into Hunter’s eyes. “I can’t do it.”

His eyes were filled with just as much pain as my own. “But what if it saves Riley? What if it saves the Queen? There are some sacrifices worth making. You know this.”

I shook my head, even though I knew it was true. I knew it! It had been ingrained in me since birth. Pack always comes first. And here we were talking about a whole race of dragons, dragons that were going extinct. And saving Riley’s life.

But still, I shook my head. “No. We’ll find another way. And I’ll do anything to help Riley. Just don’t…” my voice caught, “…don’t ask me to give you up. Please. I just lost my parents, I can’t loose you, too.”

Christian ran his fingers over my back, trying to comfort me and the room grew quiet. I couldn’t look at the others, but only stare at Hunter, hoping that I could show him through my eyes how much he meant to me. His eyes were locked on mine, showing the struggle he was going through. I was forcing him to choose between his sister and me, and damnit, I felt horrible. I really was a selfish bitch and all of that came to a head. Guilt washed over me. Was I condemning Riley to an early grave?

I gripped my necklace. No. We’d find a way.

Slowly, Hunter nodded his head and a wave of remorse and relief washed over me simultaneously. I nodded my head, too, and swallowed hard. I hoped I wouldn’t live to regret this.

Edward stirred. “Hunter, I’ll find a way to approach Gerard. We’ll see what we can find. Plus, Riley’s a strong woman. You need to give her the chance to prove it. I’m sure she’ll be pushing you around in a wheelchair one of these days.”

Suddenly the tension in the room broke as Hunter laughed, nodding. “That wouldn’t surprise me.”

“She’ll be dancing on the couches in your retirement center. Cuz you know that’s where she’s going to put you.” The guys burst out in laughter and I grinned imagining it.

I turned to Christian. “By the way, the Queen also said we had to go to her party tonight. I’m supposed to meet someone.” Well, she said I had to come, but I wasn’t telling them that; they were coming with me. “What am I supposed to wear?”

He grinned. “I’m sure Riley can let you borrow something. She has a gazillion dresses.”

I grinned and his eyes sparkled. His thumb was caressing my hand.

“A gazillion? Wow, where does she put all those dresses? It doesn’t seem like this place is big enough, unless she has a magical closet.” I put my hand to his chest and widened my eyes in fake earnest. “Does she have a magical closet?”

He laughed.

“I think you guys don’t get it.” Avery, who had been completely silent until now, finally spoke.

I’d almost forgotten that he was in the room. We all stared at him.

“The Queen said that Andre’s been stealing the artifacts. This is much bigger than just the book.”

We were all quiet as we thought about his words.

He stood up and his chair scraped the floor as it moved back. “I need to take a shower.” He walked off without another word, and I turned to look at Christian. After he closed Hunter’s door behind him, I dared to speak. “What’s up with him?”

Edward shot out of his seat. “I need to get back.” He looked at me. “Don’t worry about the jogger, I’ll see that I find out what he’s up to.”

I nodded and stood up. The rest of the guys gave him a hug, then he hooked my hand into the crook of his arm and I walked him to the door. When we got there, he faced me, a sad look on his face.

“I’m really sorry about your parents.”

A wave of grief washed over me but I bit the insides of my cheek to keep any tears from falling. “Thanks.”

“I just wish there was something more I could’ve done.”

I put my hand on his shoulder. “You saved my life; they would thank you for that if they could. So I’m doing it now.” I looked deep into his eyes and I could see a depth of sadness there; he was holding back his grief. “Seriously, thank you for that.”

I reached up to kiss his forehead and for a moment, I wished it was just him and me in the room. I could talk to him about my parents and we could cry together. He was the only one in the room who knew them. He could tell me what my dad had done to earn everyone’s respect.

He cupped my cheeks, then leaned his forehead against mine. “I love you and respect you as Robert’s daughter. But I love these guys also. Just don’t break their hearts, okay?”

I nodded, serious, and then he walked out the door.

I leaned against the door, collecting myself, and then looked back at the guys.

Hunter was throwing almonds into the air and catching them with his mouth. Easton was pitching almonds at Christian, who was dancing around the kitchen and karate chopping them with his hands.

I smiled, then slipped into the back to find Avery.